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Injured ‘Spider-Man’ Actor Undergoes DNA Testing

By Kate Taylor March 22, 2011 4:48 pmMarch 22, 2011 4:48 pm

It’s not as transformative as something Norman Osborn might try, but add DNA testing to the measures being taken to speed the recovery of Christopher Tierney, the actor who was hurt when he fell during a December performance of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesSpider-Man going airborne in a scene from the musical.

Mr. Tierney wants to return to doing aerial stunts in the show and as part of his recovery the show’s trainer, Edythe Heus, has arranged for the testing. The test can highlight traits like a tendency to low levels of certain vitamins and Ms. Heus, who has worked with Olympic athletes and Hollywood stuntmen, said it will help her fine-tune Mr. Tierney’s diet.

The testing was done for free by Marko Baer, the founder of GentSource Inc., a company whose website offers to “empower you with the most secure, comprehensive and affordable personal genomic information available.” Mr. Baer lists a degree in nutrigenomics, the study of the effect of different nutrients on gene expression, from Cambridge University.

But the lab he is affiliated with is not licensed to do DNA testing in New York, so he had to drive Mr. Tierney out of state last month to obtain a saliva sample for the test. Mr. Baer said he drove Mr. Tierney to New Jersey. Ms. Heus said she thought they drove to Connecticut.

Everyone agrees that results from the San Diego lab are not yet back.

Mr. Baer said DNA testing might prove useful to others in the cast, since it can predict things like proneness to certain kinds of injury, and whether a person will benefit from endurance or strength training. He said he also hopes to do DNA testing on the cast of the next Superman movie, to be directed by Zack Snyder.

Rick Miramontez, the production’s spokesman, said, “Everyone at ‘Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark ‘ is thrilled by Christopher’s rapid recovery, and looks forward to his return to the show.”